THE SUMMER OF CHAOS

MARCUS NORTH

IN THE SUMMER of 2024, the UK endured the most significant and widespread spate of racist rioting in the post-war period.

Opportunistic far-right actors capitalised on the horrific killing of three children in Southport, Merseyside on 29 July, and the subsequent riot outside a mosque in the town the next day, by overwhelming social media with disinformation and calling a flurry of protests across the country on a broad anti-migrant, anti-Muslim and anti-multiculturalism agenda.

What followed was a wave of startlingly violent farright demonstrations in numerous towns and cities across England and Northern Ireland, nine of which descended into all-out riots. Mobs of thugs attacked police, fought with counter-protesters, hurled missiles, shouted far-right slogans, abused and physically attacked minoritised ethnic communities and, in some cases, set cars and buildings ablaze and engaged in opportunistic looting. In two of the most shocking incidents, sites of temporary migrant accommodation in Rotherham and Tamworth were subjected to arson attempts by feverish far-right gangs.

Great quantities of misinformation, alongside grisly footage of the violence, spread quickly on social media, propelling the disorder further. In some cases, gangs of men set upon people on the basis of their skin colour, or else vandalised or set fire to their vehicles and shops. Elsewhere, residential areas with large immigrant communities were targeted with bouts of wanton vandalism, with doors kicked in and windows smashed.

The reaction from the government was forceful and swift. At the time of writing, at least 1,280 individuals have been arrested, more than 800 charged and several hundred already convicted and serving sentences. The overwhelming majority of sentences so far (with a few notable exceptions) have been between one and three years, generally for charges relating to violent disorder.

Throughout the decades since 1945 there have, of course, been other instances of major far-right violence and disorder. Examples since the turn of the millennium include the six-week Oldham race riots of 2001, the Dover riot of 2016 and the carnage brought to town after town (at great cost to the taxpayer) by the English Defence League (EDL) in the first part of the 2010s. However, the sustained level of violence during summer 2024, the number of people involved, and the sheer brutality of what took place is unparalleled in Britain in modern times.

The political period since the riots, both domestically and internationally, has not been tranquil. Nevertheless, given the chaos into which the country was plunged this summer, the speed at which the riots dropped from the news cycle is concerning.

For the far right, the riots were a disaster for several reasons. First, the mass arrests and imprisonment of activists pulled the rug from under the anti-migrant street movement, and acted as a major deterrent to others considering getting active. Second, polling in the aftermath of the riots has shown the public’s contempt for the rioters, highlighting that when it comes to “optics” the riots have not served the far right well.

Third, and related, is that for many people, the riots will have brought home the extent of the violent threat posed by the far right, as well as the harm caused by social media disinformation – something that is likely to hurt the far right, certainly in the short to-medium term. And finally, the vast anti-fascist mobilisations around the country on 7 August, coupled with the abrupt cessation of far-right protests and the downbeat mood that swiftly set in within the movement, will serve as a reminder of the opposition to violent, far-right politics that still exists in Britain.

Still, many in the organised far right were buoyed by such an intense explosion of anti-Muslim and anti-migrant anger. For them, this spate of violence indicates that not only are their messages cutting through, but that there is potential in wider society for them to exploit.

A MANIFESTATION OF THE POST-ORGANISATIONAL FAR RIGHT

In many ways, the riots were a product of the modern, “post-organisational” UK far right. This has been a widely misunderstood feature of the riots, as blame for the disorder was initially laid at the door of the EDL (now nonexistent), or on far-right groups travelling into towns and cities to take part in violence, rather than locals.

Both of these explanations badly misconstrue the actual picture of events. Whilst figures from formal organisations did attend many riots and disturbances around the country – HOPE not hate has exposed the links between many convicted rioters and organised far-right groups, including Britain First, Patriotic Alternative, the National Rebirth Party, the North West Infidels and more – the events were overwhelmingly organised and populated by individuals unaligned to any formal far-right groups. This reflects the fact that traditional structures and organisations no longer hold the same level of importance or influence.

Modern technology and social media has enabled thousands of individuals to offer micro-donations of time, and sometimes money, to collaborate towards common political goals outside of traditional organisational structures. These networks lack formal leaders but rather have figureheads, often in the form of far-right social media influencers, such as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson).

The rioting exemplifies this shift in a number of ways. First, most organising appears to have been conducted organically through localised social media groups and by unaligned individuals. This will likely have led to a greater turnout than if the mobilisation effort had been helmed by a national far-right organisation, as local voices tend to increase the success of word-ofmouth advertising.

Second, many events organised in this manner lacked any clear leadership or structure beyond a meeting point and time. This meant that the traditional “march and speech” format of most far-right events was discarded, in favour of violence and destruction.

Finally, the manner in which the agenda shifted almost immediately from anger at Southport to a generalised anti-migrant, anti-Muslim message reflects the key preoccupations of the post-organisational far right.

While there was no central organiser, the fact that many of the events recycled the same slogans – in particular, “Enough is Enough”, “Stop the Boats” and “Save Our Children” – demonstrates their common wellspring.

Some commentators across the right have attempted to portray the lack of far-right organisational involvement in the rioting as evidence that the riots themselves were not “far right”. This argument ignores this changed configuration of the UK’s far right.

However, even setting this aside, the various actions throughout the riots – targeting mosques for damage, attempting to burn people alive in temporary migrant accommodation and inciting racial hatred online – were so heinous that anyone involved in them has rightly earned themselves the “far right” tag.

“EVERY CITY NEEDS TO GO UP”

As is commonplace, immediately following the Southport attack an array of far-right and conspiratorial accounts began filling the perceived information vacuum with unverified assertions and inflammatory propaganda.

In particular, a dizzying number of claims and conspiracy theories about the attacker and their possible motives spread rapidly. This exacerbated an already challenging situation for the authorities and emergency services, to the benefit of nefarious actors intent on sowing chaos.

Chief among these was the misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, who posted a video claiming falsely that the attacker was an “undocumented migrant” who had “arrived in the UK on a boat”. Tate broadcast these lies despite the fact that, by the time he had done so, the police had already publicised that the attacker was from Cardiff. This video was viewed over 12 million times before its eventual removal by X/Twitter.

Another such figure was the disgraced former actor Laurence Fox, who, in the immediate aftermath of the attack, posted a wholly uncorroborated claim that the man responsible was Muslim. Fox also stated: “We need to permanently remove Islam from Great Britain.”

Such comments, alongside countless others, pushed tensions online to breaking point and fed into the offline carnage. This was further amplified by the likes of Daniel Thomas (AKA Danny Tommo), Tommy Robinson’s associate, who shared a video in the hours after the Southport attack claiming that “we need to do something very extreme” and “every city needs to go up”. Two days later, Thomas would lead a demonstration at Whitehall at which more than 100 people would be arrested.

In making these videos and publishing unverified information, Thomas, Tate and many others began to shift the focus away from horror at the Southport attack and onto a broader anti-Muslim, anti-migrant, populist agenda. These became the unifying themes of the riots and disorder of the following days.

CHEERLEADERS FOR CHAOS

Revealingly, the disorder was actively encouraged by a number of individuals and groups who have spent years engaged in, or otherwise amplifying, targeted anti-migrant activism in many of the same towns subsequently beset by rioting.

The organised far right was divided over public support for the violence, with some in the movement wellaware of the possible repercussions of being seen to be encouraging or inciting violence.

One such figure was Mark Collett, the leader of fascist group Patriotic Alternative (PA), who made it clear that, despite supporting the “democratic right to protest” about the Southport murders, his followers ought not to attend demonstrations outside of mosques, calling them “counterproductive”. Collett, his former PA colleague Alek Yerbury, and other more well-known figures of the far right also stressed the requirement for activists to not be arrested and imprisoned, due to the damage it would do to the movement in the short to medium term.

Others, however, were far less circumspect. One such individual was Steve Laws, the fascist influencer from Folkestone, Kent. As bricks and other projectiles battered police officers during the Southport riot, Laws, who has since joined the fascist Homeland Party, tweeted: “Give ‘em hell, lads”, before celebrating the attack on the Southport mosque. Were it not for the police presence, this mosque would very likely have been subjected to serious criminal damage.

Furthermore, as far-right activists tried to incinerate migrants and staff trapped inside the Holiday Inn in Rotherham, Ashlea Simon, co-leader of the antiMuslim Party Britain First, tweeted: “I don’t think Rotherham residents came to play” followed by two “boom” emojis. Later that same day, Simon posted “BRITONS HAVE RISEN” flanked by flame emojis.

Laws and Simon have been involved in localised instances of anti-migrant activism for years. HOPE not hate has repeatedly raised concerns that this activism – both online and off – increases the likelihood of serious incidents at those same locations in the future. Responsibility for the disorder, then, sits not just with those who perpetrated the carnage up and down the country, but with an array of far-right figures who have actively inflamed tensions both during and prior.

REPERCUSSIONS

Labour’s criminal justice response to the riots – coupled with the large anti-fascist turnout, especially on 7 August – did much to take the wind out of the far right’s sails. The number of people arrested and imprisoned for their role in the riots has prompted an attempt by the far right to reshape the narrative, trying to distort public perceptions of the reality behind the sentences handed down.

This was an inevitable reaction which reveals an internal sense that the riots were a reputational disaster for the far right, something supported by polling, which has shown the widespread societal disgust at the violence. Nevertheless, the riots have revealed the extent of the violent racism simmering in British society, and its ramifications in communities up and down this country will take many years to fade.